Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera has been confirmed dead after a plane crash in Mexico, a US aviation investigation board has said.

Rivera, who was born in California to Mexican parents, has sold more than 15 million records and has huge numbers of fans on both sides of the border.

The wreckage of the small aircraft in which she had been travelling in after a concert was discovered in northern Mexico on Sunday.

The US-registered Lear Jet 25 had been carrying Rivera and six other people to Toluca, outside Mexico City, from Monterrey. There were no survivors.

The impact was so powerful that the remains of the plane were "almost unrecognisable", although a mangled California driver's licence with Rivera's name and picture was found among the debris.

Image:The singer's driving licence was found near the crash site

The plane had gone missing shortly after take-off on Sunday morning.

Also on board were Rivera's publicist, lawyer, make-up artist and the flight crew.

The 43-year-old, who was a judge on TV show The Voice Of Mexico, had become one of the biggest stars of the Mexican regional style known as grupero music, which is influenced by the norteno, cumbia and ranchero styles.

She recently won two Billboard Mexican Music Awards - Female Artist of the Year and Banda Album of the Year for Joyas Prestadas: Banda.

She had also been nominated various times for Latin Grammys.

Image:Rescue officials search among the debris

Rivera, a mother-of-five and grandmother-of-two, performed in front of thousands of fans in Monterrey on Saturday night.

She gained fans throughout her career for opening up about her personal troubles and her struggle to provide a good life for her children.

After the concert in Monterrey, she gave a news conference and spoke about her emotional state following her recent divorce from her third husband, former Major League Baseball pitcher Esteban Loaiza.

"I am a woman like any other and ugly things happen to me like any other woman," she said.

"The number of times I have fallen down is the number of times I have gotten up."